John 13:1-5

1. We learn what patient and continuing love there is in Christ’s heart towards His people.
2. We learn what deep corruption may sometimes be found in the heart of a great professor of religion.

"The love of Christ to sinners is the very essence and marrow of the gospel. That He should love us at all and care for our souls, that He should love us before we love Him, or even know anything about Him, that He should love us so much as to come into the world to save us, take our nature on Him, bear our sins and die for us on the cross—all this is wonderful indeed!"

"There can be no greater warning of danger to Christians than Judas Iscariot. He shows us what length someone may go in Christian profession and yet turn out a rotten hypocrite at last and prove never to have been converted. He shows us the uselessness of the highest privileges unless we have a heart to value them and turn them to good account. Privileges alone without grace save nobody and will only make hell deeper."

Questions:

1. We read of the love of Christ for believers and sinners in this passage. Ryle, speaking of the less often considered love toward sinners says, "That He should bear with all their countless infirmities from grace to glory, that He should never be tired of their endless inconsistencies and petty provocations, that He should go on forgiving and forgetting incessantly, and never be provoked to cast them off and give them up: all this is marvelous indeed!" Will you not give God glory as you consider this love in your life?
2. We see the sober warning of Judas, who, having been with Jesus for 3 years, proves to belong to Satan in the end. Ryle warns that it is useless to have the highest privileges if they have no value in our hearts and turn them to good account. Do we pray daily that our Christianity may be genuine, sincere, real, and true?